The Story of 2 Monks

If you've been holding a grudge against someone or if you know someone who needs some advice on how to forgive and forget then here's a story that'll tickle your fancy.

There were once 2 monks that decided to travel to a neigbouring monastry to meditate together. Their trip would take 7 days long so they decided to take a pledge of silence so that they would be able to reflect on life and on their throughts.

They made it through the first 2 days with ease, in total silence and with peace on their minds. But on the third day something unexpected happened. As they were walking they came across a small river. As they got ready to cross the river a super hot young girl turned up. She was wearing the shortest skirt and the highest heels. She smiled at the monks and politely asked if one of them would carry her across the river as she was afraid to make the crossing alone.

The two monks looked at each other fully aware that the young girl was asking for something that was against their believes. They weren't suppose to make physical contact with a member of the opposite sex let alone, a super hot young girl.

But as they fussed, the young girl persisted and finally the younger of the two monks picked up the girl and carried her across the river. As all three of them reached the other side, the monks parted ways with the young girl.

However, the older of the two monks was furious that the younger monk had gone against their believes by carrying the young girl across the river and in the process touching her skin. It just wasn't right. But since he had taken a pledge of silence, he kept quite and didn't vent his anger.

A few more days passed and the older monk was still angry. Finally on the sixth day of their journey, his anger got the better of him and he broke his pledge!

"How could you carry that young girl across the river!" he shouted. "Her skin touched yours. That is not allowed!"

The younger monk looked shocked.

He looked innocently at the older monk and said...

"Yes, I carried that young girl across the river". "But... you have been carrying her with you for 3 days now..."

Whatever it is that you're angry or upset at - let it go. There's no point harping on the past. Focus on the now.

Analytic Meditation

I'm in the midst of reading a book titled 'Happiness at Work'. It's based on a conversation between an American psychologist and the Dalai Lama and it talks about how you can be happier at work.

The book is pretty cool but one particular concept caught my attention and I'd like to share it with you today.

The psychologist tells the Dalai Lama that many people in the US are unhappy at work because they feel they are unfairly treated by their bosses. They are overworked and underpaid. On top of that there seems to be favoritism at the work place because they seem to be missing out on promotions to the boss's pet. This leads many people to become jealous and vengeful at work. Hence, their unhappiness.

The Dalai Lama's answer to this is Analytic Meditation. Analytic meditation is simply you asking yourself - What are the consequences of my actions? If you feel you have been mistreated at work or for that matter anywhere else - ask yourself what are the consequences of your RE-Action. Will being vengeful and jealous take you somewhere productive or will it just add to your unhappiness? Analyse your RE-Action to your unfair situation and you will find that you yourself know the right action to take that will take you somewhere positive.

Most of the time - we indulge in letting our emotions run amok without actually thinking about what feelings or actions will serve us best. Analytic Meditation allows us to slow down and to choose our feelings and emotions towards our circumstances.

The concept behind Analytic Meditation is that we know for ourselves what's good for us. If only we'd slow down and think about it!

Saving vs. MSI

Hey guys, sorry I've been missing from action over the past few days. Been really busy making arrangements to move into my new office. I just woke up and realized that I finally have some free time to myself. So here I am.

Have you guys noticed how expensive things are nowadays? I've been struggling to control my expenditure to keep it within my monthly budget but it's been getting really tough. So I've been working really hard to reduce my spending. I've reduced my starbucks coffees, fancy dinners and other luxury indulgences.

But this got me thinking about something I heard at a talk a few years ago. The speaker was talking about Multiple Streams of Income (MSI) and said that instead of working really hard to reduce spending work really hard to increase your income.

Instead of stinging on the tiny luxuries like fancy dinners or expensive coffee, he said it would be more effective to find ways of earning a little extra. And we're not talking about much. For instance, look for a way to earn just 10% of your current income.

If you're earning RM 3,000, find a way to earn an extra RM 300. If you have a hobby you are really passionate about that may be an avenue to make a little bit more. Look for part time, freelance jobs that you'd really enjoy. If you have a particular skill, you could teach it to others. If you haven't got a skill, just scan the part time jobs available on the web and see if anything catches your fancy.

For those of you who have big dreams of starting your own business, this would be a good time to see how you could slowly move towards starting that business. If you've been wanting to sell that awesome cupcake you're so good at baking, maybe you could sell it on a small scale during the weekends.

Let your imagination go wild and you'd be surprised at the ideas you get!

The ERRC Model

A continuation from yesterday...

So if you've been asking how you can value innovate in your organization to create more value for your customers while reducing the operational cost of your business unit, you can use the ERRC Model from the Blue Ocean Strategy.

The ERRC Model is a simple 4 step model to help you identify potential ideas to value innovate in your organization. Here are the 4 Steps in it's simplest form:

1. Eliminate

Ask yourself if there's anything in your current organization which you can do without. Most often blue ocean strategists review the systems and processes being applied in the organization and question whether they are really serving a purpose or not. Another good place to question what you can eliminate is to ask what the customer can do without. Most of the time we load the customer with plenty of benefits, most of which they don't want or need yet end up paying for. 

2. Reduce

Sometimes you don't have to eliminate. Instead you can reduce. Question what it is you can reduce in your organization to reduce the cost for your organization and for the customer. By elminating and reducing unnecessary benefits, systems and processes you instantaneously create a more price competitive product while also simplifying the product / service offering.

4. Raise

Once you've questioned what you can eliminate and reduce ask what you can increase. You should focus on increasing aspects of your product / service offering that customers highly value. Focus on giving your customers what they like. 

5. Create

Now here's where your creativity kicks in. If you have an idea you would like to add to your business here's where it comes in. But make sure you focus on creating benefits that customers actually want. 

The four step ERRC Model can set you on your way to value innovate. It'll help provide a framework to work with and it applies to everybody. I suppose it's easy to see how this model applies to busienss owners but the truth is its also applicable to any individual who works in an organization. If you don't deal directly with customers your focus should be on how you can value innovate to offer better value to your colleagues (who are your internal customers).

For more information on the blue ocean strategy simply google it!